Put Me Back Together
by Depps My Husband
Summary: a one shot. there's rumors that tommy's supposed to meet jude at one of her shows, so this is just a one shot to that. it's not too long so just give it a shot.


_Put Me Back Together_

It was a little over a month since Tommy left Jude at the restaurant. Tour had arrived a week later, however, and thankfully the pressure took Jude's mind off the Tommy subject. They had already made it halfway across the country in the few weeks they'd been on the road. Tonight was their first night in Alberta and their first night in a hotel, which Jude had been craving for since they had left Toronto. Sure, touring with the Speiderman boys was fun, and they were all like brothers to her, but she still missed having her own room. Being able to sleep in an actual bed instead of a bunk. A nice warm shower, instead of the small closet sized one on the bus.

And that was the first thing she did. Walking out of the bathroom of her hotel room, in PJ bottoms and a lose SME shirt, Jude ran a towel through her wet hair, quickly drying it the best she could. As she stood in her hotel room she couldn't help but feel awkward. It was quiet. The first ounce of silence she'd had since they departed from G-Major three weeks ago.

With barely any strength left, Jude collapsed onto the bed, letting her knees hang over the edge as she stared at the ceiling, and let her eyes slowly close. It'd been a long week, longer than the rest. More shows were scheduled that single week than the previous two, and it just wore her out, and with no noise coming from the boys' room above her, she believed they had already fallen dead to the world.

With the urge for sleep killing her, the light above was definitely delaying any slumber she had in mind. Sighing, she forced herself up and walked over toward the light switch by the door, then turned back to the bed, but just as she had pulled the covers back her desire for sleep was interrupted again when a small beep echoed through her room coming from the direction of her cell phone, signaling she had a missed call.

Sleepily, she grabbed her cell and flipped it open, her eyes growing insanely wider as she read the name listed under the missed calls list. Tommy.

"Oh my God," she breathed out as she cleared her head and tried to catch her breath. Her head flew to the clock on her bed side table and read ten after eleven. Doubts and thoughts ran through her mind, but Tommy's name staring up at her quickly pushed all the doubts away. She pressed call.

One ring. No answer.

Two rings. No answer.

Three rings. She began to get nervous as Tommy still didn't pick up.

Four ring. Tears came to her eyes.

Voicemail, "You've reached me—"

She closed the phone. For a few seconds she just stood there. Maybe her eyes were playing tricks with her. It _was_ a call she'd been waiting for, for so long, and she _was_ tired. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks as she sat down on her bed and sunk into the mattress. She couldn't believe it. She missed his call. What if he never called again? What if he thought that she didn't answer because she didn't want to talk to him?

Again, her heart broke because of Tommy. With her cell still clutched in her hands she laid back on the bed, letting the darkness and tears be her only friends. Out of the silence, the quick rings to her cell phone went off that sent her flying up to read the caller ID.

"Tommy," she whispered while flipping her phone open and hitting accept, "Hello? Tommy?"

"Jude,"

Her heart raced at the sound of his voice. Tears continued to, yet again, fill her eyes, but of happiness, instead of sorrow.

"I didn't wake you did I?" he asked, breaking the silence since he'd answered.

"No," she quickly responded. "No, I was in the shower," her voice was quick, "I didn't mean to miss your call."

"Hey, hey," he lightly laughed, "It's okay. I didn't mean to call this late."

"It's only a little after eleven." She told him sounding like the sun was still up.

"Yeah." He replied, as words lost him. He didn't want to say the wrong thing, or get her upset with him and silence seemed like the best option to take.

To Jude, the silence instantly got to her. Even though it was only a short few seconds, she didn't like it. Not after going over a month of not hearing his voice at all.

"Umm," she mumbled, "Why _did_ you call?"

She heard him instantly sigh into the phone, "I messed up Jude." His voice was shaky, "I _really_ messed up."

Sternly, "Tommy, where are you?"

"I'm…" he paused, before slowly confessing, "in Montana."

"Montana? In the States?"

"Yeah…"

"Wha…" she couldn't form words, "Why are—"

"I'll explain. Everything, I'll tell you everything, I promise, just… I can't right now."

"Are you okay?" she asked concerned, "Are you in trouble, or—"

"No. No, I'm fine…" his tone showed he wanted to drop the subject, "What about you? How've you been?"

"Well," pausing as she shifted on the hotel bed, "A lot better now." She admitted.

Guilt flew over him, and Jude wasn't even intending on her words to be a guilt trip when she said them. "God, I am so sorry." He told her.

Silence fell over them again before Jude spoke, "Tommy are you coming home?"

"I am." He replied, hearing the tears in her words. "Not right now, but I will."

"When?" she asked desperately.

He paused, trying to figure the best way to say what he had to say, "If things go good, I'll be home a few days after you get back from tour."

"Things go good?"

"I just have some stuff I have to finish taking care of. But that's why I called. Earlier today I found out I can go home. You were the first person who came to mind, and I was gonna call you earlier, but I had a ton of things to do and just got home a few minutes before I first called you."

Her heart skipped a beat at his words. Tears built up again as she let everything sink in. _He was coming home._

"You're coming home?" she asked to make sure.

"Yeah. I'm comin' home, girl."

"So… if you had to stay, you…" she paused, hating even thinking of the possibility, "you wouldn't of called?"

He sighed, ashamed of how he had made her feel. All the times she had called him; all the voicemails she'd left. Never once had a girl broken Tom Quincy's heart until a month ago. "I don't know. I mean, now that everything's getting as normal as it can be, I'm looking back at how everything's been handled and I regret so many things. Missing all your calls for one." He stopped hearing her quietly catching her breath on the other end, "Girl, why're you crying?"

Knowing he knew she was crying she let out the sob she'd been holding in. "I really thought I'd never see you again." She cried, trying to calm herself down. "You never answered your phone, I, I… You just drove away—You didn't stop—"

"Hey, hey. Shh… Shh…" he consoled her. He hated that he couldn't comfort her in his arms—hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay. Over the phone was so cheesy, but there was no other way. "I'm coming back girl. I'm so sorry," he continued, trying to hold it together himself, "I'm so, sorry."

"God, Tommy," she sniffed, trying to keep her emotions under control. "You made me a nervous wreck."

"I didn't plan it Jude. If I'd of known that guy was coming—how he wasn't goin' to let me give you some good bye, I wouldn't of asked you to dinner. I hated standing you up—canceling on you."

As those words passed through her ears realization hit, "You really asked me out…" she thought out loud, and even though she couldn't see him, she knew he was smiling. She was.

"What can I say? I took a chance."

A small chuckle escaped her lips as a million questions ran through her mind, but her thoughts were put to a stop when she heard a scuffle in the background on Tommy's end.

"Hey, hold on." He quickly told her as the next sound she heard was his hand covering the receiver. Only a few seconds passed before he got back on the phone, "Hey, Jude," he broke the quiet, "I'm real sorry girl, but I got to go."

"Go?" she asked sadly.

"Yeah," he weakly replied.

"Well, when am I going to talk to you again?"

It was quiet for a minute, "You're in Alberta aren't you?"

"Yeah. We just pulled in tonight."

Another few seconds of silence passed, "I'm coming to your concert tomorrow."

"What?!" she quickly replied, thinking she heard him wrong.

"I'll drive up there tomorrow."

Now she was the quiet one. "Tomorrow? So… I'll get to… see you?"

"Yeah. The crew knows me. They'll let me backstage. I'll meet you there after the show."

She closed her eyes at the thought of finally seeing him. "Alright."

"I'll be there, Jude."

"I'll look for you."

He smiled, "Okay, but I gotta go now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Are you gonna call?"

"I doubt I'll have time, I'll try though."

"Okay," she replied, a little upset he wasn't going to call, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Good night Jude." He softly told her.

"Good night Tommy." And for a few seconds she knew he stayed on the phone, but then the call disconnected. Jude slowly closed her phone and finally laid her head on her pillow.

Tommy had called. She'd just talked to him, and in less than twenty four hours she'll get to see him. With the desire for sleep quickly creeping up on her again, Jude closed her eyes, in hopes that sleep would come, tomorrow would fly by, and six o clock would show up in no time. That Tommy would show up in no time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jude knew going in to the show that it was going to be the longest concert of her life, and it was. She couldn't understand that. How when you're having a good time and enjoying putting on that specific show it's over before you know it, but when you want the show to run by it drags on longer than a Shakespeare lecture.

Hey eyes continuously scanned the crowd for Tommy, but she couldn't find him. There were a few times where she thought she saw him, but it turned out to be some random guy. Speed could tell something was up because every time she thought she saw Tommy words lost her and she'd stutter over the rest of that verse. Thankfully it only happened a few times.

When her set came closer to the end Jude felt a rush come over her knowing she'd see Tommy shortly. It had been a risky move, what she had planned, but Jude couldn't resist playing this song. Although it was completely different from how her and Tommy recorded it, the lyrics were still the same, and Jude wanted Tommy to hear it. To end the night she sang 'White Lines'. The first time she had performed it all throughout tour.

After she introduced the name of the song Wally started the song out, simply converting the piano portion into a nice bass line, and at the appropriate time, Jude cut in, _"I tried, to tell you, I've got to get away. I tried, to say, I need my space. I've got, to get, some, distance in between. My heart and my head, I'm on the razor's, edge, I've, been here before. I know, the way."_

Speed and Kyle jumped into the song as the chorus began; giving the song it's original sound, minus the piano playing.

_"White lines! And headlights, in my eyes. White lines! I'm ready, to drive all night. White lines! How many till I'm in your arms. White lines, will bring me, home."_

Once she finished the song Jude quickly got off stage after saying her thank you's and searched the building for Tommy. He said he'd meet her backstage, but of course he didn't specify where. She stood next to a Pepsi machine letting her eyes run over everyone backstage, but saw no resemblance of him. What if he wasn't going to show? What if he really **_was_** in trouble and something happened? Thoughts of every sort flew throughout her mind, but she couldn't let herself believe them. Tommy wouldn't leave her again. He told her he wouldn't.

She stood on her tip toes to overlook the sound techs and crew members crowding the backstage, but still no luck. Maybe he was just in a different side of the stage. She decided to agree with herself on that one, as she stood flat foot, ready to explore the back of the stage in search for Tommy.

As she turned around she instantly collided into an intern. Papers scattered across the floor while coffee spilt down her shirt and over her jeans.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." The intern immediately apologized.

Jude shook her head while helping pick the papers up, "No. It was my fault."

"Did you get burned?" she asked.

"Uh," she looked down at her appearance as she stood up, holding the papers, "I'm okay."

"I hope I didn't ruin your clothes," the young girl told her while taking the papers from Jude's grip.

"Really don't worry about it." Jude informed her. She looked down at her appearance, completely ignoring what the girl was saying. All she had to do was rush into wardrobe and change before she found Tommy.

"Miss Harrison." The intern pressed.

Jude looked up at her, "Sorry, what?"

The young girl nodded her head signaling someone was behind her, "I think you have a fan who wants to meet you."

Irritated, she turned around, wanting to quickly get this meeting over, but to her surprise, it was a fan she already knew. Stopping dead in her tracks, her eyes fell over Tommy standing before her.

"To—Tom," she stuttered out, her breath caught in her throat.

"Hey Jude." He smiled.

Jude's eyes darted over her appearance. The first time she saw him in a month and she smelt like coffee and desperately needed to change her clothes.

"You look great." he said softly, while gently running his hand over her arm.

She felt the tears building up as her eyes found his and the smallest smile came over her face, "I'd, uh… I'd hug you, but… Kinda, spilled stuff on me."

"It's just coffee," he replied, and with those words they both stepped into each other, not wanting to let the other go.

"God," she quietly sobbed into his chest. Jude held onto him for dear life, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too girl," he gently kissed the top of her head, "I missed you too." Her arms tightened around him and Tommy wanted nothing more than to keep her there till the end of time, "Everything's going to be okay again. I'll be home in a little over a month, and everything will be okay."

"But what about until then?" she asked while bringing her face out of his chest to look up at him, "I still have five weeks left of tour."

"Jude!" she heard Speed's voice calling in search of her.

She quickly let go of Tommy, a small spot on his shirt from the coffee on hers became visible as she innocently smiled, "I told you," she quickly whispered before turning in Speed's direction.

"Jude!" he spotted her, quickly snaking in and out of people to approach her, "What are you doing, dude? We have to be on the…" his eyes landed on Tommy. A blank expression spread across his face, as his words left him, "Where'd you come from?"

"Uh…"

"It's a long story." Jude cut in, "What's up?" she asked, trying her best to change the subject.

His eyes left Tommy as slowly moved to Jude. Expression wise, he wasn't mad. He looked let down, knowing that his ex girlfriend cared for the guy in front of him more than she ever cared for him. Kind of embarrassed at how through their relationship, she never showed how much she cared about him, yet almost every night on tour he'd hear her crying over Tommy when they were never together.

"Uh," shaking his head from his thoughts, "We have to be on the bus in ten minutes. We have to get going."

"Ten—ten minutes?" she asked hoping her ears were lying to her.

"Yeah. I gotta get my stuff though, so I'll see you on the bus dude." He told her as he turned to walk away, giving Tommy a polite nod and disappearing into the backstage crowd.

Slowly, she turned back to Tommy, "You probably can't stay long, can you?"

His head hung down, disappointed that their time was cut so short. Ignoring her question, he asked his own, "There anything I can help you get together?"

A slow nod answered him as she walked across the hall with Tommy by her side to her dressing room. Jude walked in first, and saw all her stuff was already together. She hadn't even really got ready at the stadium. So anxious to kill time back at the hotel, she was dressed and ready to go almost an hour before show time.

"So, I guess this is it." She replied dimly while throwing her backpack on her back.

"Hey," his voice brought her head up, "Picture tour as a race. G-Major's the finish line," he stood in front of her as he grabbed her hand, "I'll be at the finish line, okay?"

She smiled as her emotions wanted nothing more than to show. Looking up at him she muttered a quiet, "Okay." As a tear escaped.

He smiled too, as he gently tugged her into him for a hug good-bye. Her arms wrapped around him instantly as she let the rest of her tears surface.

"This isn't for forever, Jude." He whispered as his hands ran up her back to comfort her.

"I know. It better not be, Quincy." She replied, breaking the hug slightly to look up at him, only to find he was already looking at her. Simultaneously their looks changed to match one another's as everything around them became non-existent. Want, was the main ingredient in each other's eyes, but just as Jude was ready to make her move a knock from outside her room cracked the glass surrounding them from the outside world.

"Jude?" a voice that Tommy didn't recognize, asked.

"Who's that?" he asked quietly.

"Rick. The chaperone." She answered. Looking at the door, "What?"

"Are you ready, we're about to take off, lets go."

She felt Tommy's arms loosen from around her, knowing the moment was gone. "Alright." She responded weakly.

"Come on, then."

She looked up to Tommy, "I have to go." She told him as he nodded.

Seeing a duffle bag on the floor, he picked it up and handed it to her, "Here."

"Thanks." She smiled at his gesture. "Walk me out?"

"Of course." He reclaimed the bag from her hand and swung it over his own shoulder as they walked out of her dressing room. "So much for ten minutes." He muttered disappointedly while walking toward the back exit.

Jude was battling options inside her head thinking back to what had just happened, what almost happened. Although she knew they had to go separate ways, and she was running short of time she didn't know what to do, and with each step the door in which an exit sign hung over got closer and closer.

Tommy, too, was debating in his mind what to say, if he should make a move, what move? Neither even spoke to each other, but his thoughts were broken up when Jude stopped walking and looked around. Curious of her actions he was about to question them, but didn't have a chance to. Her eyes met his as she reached for his hand and gently dragged him through a door that read 'Sound Equipment' on it.

"Girl, what are…" but he stopped, seeing her put her hand up to keep quiet. She wanted the floor.

A deep exhale came from her as her eyes flew to the ground, and only came back to meet his when her speech began, "On my birthday you opened up to me. You told me how you felt…" she paused as a small smile on his face started to appear. "But I never told you how I felt back."

She felt tears building up behind her eyes as her head fell down, and she took his hands with hers, "You told me the truth, and now it's my turn."

Tommy kept his eyes on hers, hoping she'd look up at him, and when she did he saw the one thing he'd wanted to see in her for so long. He saw love in her eyes.

"The truth is I do believe in you. I trust you more than anyone else even if you skip town." A little smile came across her face to assure him she wasn't mad. "I really do, and…" her mouth was agape as her eyes wandered, trying to get herself to spit the last of the words out, "I," she shut her mouth to clear her head. Her eyes found his again, "I care about you, Tommy."

His face softened as her words touched him deeply. Gently, and for the last time, he pulled her into him. His arms went around her shoulders as she wrapped her own around his back, holding onto him so tightly, "So much." She concluded as her tears left her eyes.

As he held her there he wanted nothing more than to keep her in his arms until the end of time. "I care about you too, Jude." He told her, "So much."

Those words she knew would stay in her mind forever, but as she stood there she knew she had to let go. The bus was waiting for her. She couldn't stay. She had to let go.

Her head slowly nodded at his statement as she gave him one last squeeze, "Okay. Okay, now I really have to go."

"I'll be home soon, girl." He told her as they broke apart.

Jude nodded to him then hesitantly stepped into him again, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek, "You better not take forever, Quincy."

He quickly kissed her cheek to as his arms went around her waist, "I won't. You'll be at the finish line. I'm gonna go as fast as I can."

They both let each other go and for a few seconds only stared at each other. Knowing she had to go Tommy checked his watch, "I think our ten minutes is up."

"Yeah," she responded, matching his tone as they both simultaneously exited the room and as they filed out, there, only ten feet away, was the door to the outside. Again, Jude grabbed his hand as they quietly walked to the door and pushed it open.

She saw everyone loading the last bit of equipment up and knew that this was good-bye. Looking up at him, she saw his eyes focused on the bus, but his mind was definitely some where else.

"See ya at the finish line?" she asked, breaking his thoughts.

He smiled down at her, "I'll see you at the finish line."

"Bye, Tommy." She whispered as her hand slipped from his grip, but before it slipped all the way he tightened his grip.

"Not good-bye." He told her, "Just… See ya later. There's no more good-bye's between us."

She smiled, agreeing with him, "See ya in a few weeks." And their hands slipped away.

"See ya in a few weeks," he repeated.

His eyes never left her as she quickly made her way to the bus, looking over her shoulder, smiling his way. She shot one last look in his direction as she began to step up to the bus. Her hand waved to him as she smiled one last time, and he couldn't help but want to hold her one last time. His hand came up quickly, waving back to her, and smiling as well before she disappeared onto the bus.

And there he stood. He stood leaning against the wall of the stadium, watching the last of the crew step onto the bus and soon after, he watched the bus pull away. Although he wasn't sad. Jude and him were okay, for now at least. Many secrets still hadn't been revealed, but he knew, after what had happened that very night, he knew they would be okay. She _cared_ about him. She cared about him, and **he** cared about **her**. _So_ much.

_How many till I'm in your arms? White lines, will, bring me, home._


End file.
